Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg
Mullah Dadullah Mullah Dadullah Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia Afghan Deceased Big Shot 20030828  
    Reported killed, with photos, 2007-04-27. Confirmed by U.S. military. Replaced by his brother, Mullah Bakht.
  Mullah Dadullah Taliban Afghanistan/South Asia At Large 20040318  
Mullah Dadullah Akhund Mullah Dadullah Akhund Taliban Afghanistan 20030904  
Mullah Dadullah Kakar Mullah Dadullah Kakar Taliban Afghanistan 20030908  

Afghanistan
Mullah Omar not visited Pakistan over the past 25 years, claims Taliban
2016-12-29
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban group founder and ex-supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar not visited Pakistain over the past 25 years, the Death Eater group claimed Wednesday.

The group released a statement to reject a report regarding a meeting between Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
and a Norwegian diplomat in a luxury hotel in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistain.

"A western newspaper ’The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
’ published a report citing a Norwegian diplomat ‐ Alf Arne Ramslien ‐ who claimed initially talking twice on the phone??? with the late Amir ul Mumineen Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) and even meeting him at a later stage in Pakistain during the year 2009. This report has then gone on to write many fabrications under this title," the statement said.

The statement further added "We categorically reject this report from start to end. The late Amir ul Mumineen Mullah Muhammad Omar (may Allah have mercy on him) had not visited Pakistain over the past 25 years nor did he talk with anyone via telephone following the American invasion. And neither did he have the habit of meeting with diplomats especially with foreign diplomats during the time of occupation when he had millions of dollars of bounty on his head."

According to the group "It is plausible that this diplomat has made such assertions for his own fame or that he was duped by some individual."

This comes as Taliban’s top commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah confirmed earlier in August last year that Mullah Omar did not die naturally but was assassinated, confirming the reports suggesting Mullah Omar was mysteriously killed in April 2013 in a hospital in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
city of Pakistain.

Mansoor Dadullah is the brother of the former senior Taliban capo Mullah Dadullah who was actively operating in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province before he was killed during an operation in Helmand province in 2007.

The Afghan Intelligence ‐ National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) earlier said Monday the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was mysteriously killed in a hospital in Karachi city of Pakistain.

Mullah Omar’s death was first confirmed by a splinter group of the Taliban ‐ Afghanistan Islamic Movement Fidai Mahaz, which claimed that he was assassinated Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor and Gull Agha.

The group’s front man Qari Hamza said last year Mullah Omar was killed two years ago in the month of July.

Link


Afghanistan
Breakaway Taliban faction names new leader in Afghanistan
2016-08-17
[AlAhram] A breakaway Taliban faction in Afghanistan has appointed a new leader for the group, the nephew of the faction's longtime leader who was killed in fighting with rivals last year.

The development reflects the complex layers of the insurgency in Afghanistan, where though dominant, the Taliban are not the only bully boy group waging war.

At a gathering Monday in southern Zabul province, Mullah Emdadullah Mansoor was named leader of the faction known as Mahaaz-e-Dadullah. The meeting was attended by tribal and religious leaders, as well as the group's local commanders.

News Agency that Dare Not be Named video of the gathering shows Mansoor accepting the leadership position among a crowd of gunnies, mostly young guards. He is the nephew of Mullah Mansoor Dadullah who was killed in Khak-e-Afghan district of Zabul last year, fighting with rival Taliban.

"I accept the leadership of these men, based on the decision of the holy mans," said Mansoor, promising to "fight foreign forces" and exact Dire Revenge for the group's slain leader.

Before Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was killed in Zabul, the founder of the group, Mullah Dadullah, was also killed in an ambush, possibly by one of his bodyguards in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province. He was also an uncle of the newly named leader.

At the Monday gathering, several gunnies in white-colored clothing with black balaclavas who call themselves jacket wallahs said they were ready to carry out attacks against the rival Taliban as well as foreign forces in the country.

"I announce that I will take ... Dire Revenge from Mullah Haibatullah's group," said Mansoor. And of his rivals, he said "it is time for them to pay the price."

Mansoor was referring to the current head of the rival Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada
...Deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour...
, a religious hard boy who replaced Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in May.

The Mahaaz-e-Dadullah group, known for its fighting skills and suicide kabooms, virtually disappeared from the Afghan killing fields after the death of Mansoor's uncles. Their re-emergence could create a headache for the Taliban as the faction is present in various parts of the Taliban heartland in the south.

"Now we are back on track with our mission" said Mullah Nematullah Samim, Mansoor's deputy.

Another would-be suicide bomber, Qari Misbah, said at Monday's gathering that he has been "waiting for my turn for a long time ago and now it's the time for me, I can give my body and soul."

Samim denied that Mahaaz-e-Dadullah has been uniting forces in Zabul with Afghanistan's branch of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group, which emerged last year, mainly in the country's east, close the border with Pakistain.

"We don't want to be weak or depend on others," he said.
Link


Afghanistan
Taliban chief secures grip on power
2016-04-11
By subduing dissidents and eliminating rivals, Taleban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour is rapidly consolidating his authority over the fractious Afghan insurgent movement as it prepares for "decisive" battles in its upcoming spring offensive.

Mansour was declared Taleban leader last summer after the announcement of long-term chief Mullah Omar's death, but many top commanders refused to pledge their loyalty alleging that he rigged the hastily organised selection process.

Despite the infighting, the group saw a new resurgence under the firebrand supremo last year with striking military victories. Analysts predict that this year's offensive, expected to start this month, will be on a bigger scale.

"Let's prepare for decisive strikes against the enemy purely for the sake of Allah with strong determination and high spirits," Mansour told his followers in a recent message posted on the Taleban website.

Ahead of the offensive, Mansour has been rooting out the last vestiges of opposition to his leadership, buying the support of rebellious commanders, quashing renegade groups and luring dissidents with leadership positions, militant sources say.

The Taleban recently announced that two of the most influential dissenters - Mullah Abdul Manan, a brother of Mullah Omar and the deceased leader's son, Mullah Mohammed Yaqoub - will be given posts in Quetta Shura, the Taleban's leadership council.

Last week another vocal critic, Mullah Qayum Zakir, pledged his loyalty to Mansour.

It is not clear if they changed their mind willingly or came under duress from the Pakistani military establishment, which is said to have close ties with Mansour.

Mullah Dadullah, a prominent dissident commander, was killed last year in a gunfight with Mansour loyalists. And Mullah Rassoul, who formed a Taleban breakaway faction, has reportedly been detained by the Pakistani military.

"It's quite clear that Mullah Mansour is putting his power consolidation strategy into overdrive," Michael Kugelman, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based think tank the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said.

"Mansour understands that the time is ripe to do all he can to eliminate what is arguably the Taleban's greatest weakness - its internal power struggles."

New Taleban military gains in recent months have helped cement Mansour's authority by burnishing his credentials as a commander.

His resurgent group has opened new battlefronts across Afghanistan with local forces struggling to beat back the expanding insurgency.

They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years and southern opium-rich Helmand province is almost entirely under insurgent control.

"Mansour is preparing for a major military push, more spectacular victories against the government this year," Mullah Qasem, a retired Taleban commander in Helmand, said.

A senior Quetta Shura source said that Mansour is mobilising fighters for major offensives in up to six provinces.

More at the link
Link


India-Pakistan
ISI Sheltered Key Taliban Leaders Following Regime's Fall
2015-12-06
[Tolo News] Pakistain's powerful spy agency - Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) reportedly sheltered key Taliban leaders, including the group's reclusive leader Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
, following the U.S's military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, government sources have confirmed.

In the second part of TOLOnews' documentary on the Taliban, government sources spoke on condition of anonymity on Mullah Mansour's rise to power.

According to them, reports indicate that Mullah Omar was initially sheltered in an ISI safe house in Chawni area of Quetta city, the capital of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
later on, ISI moved him to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Islamabad and Lahore.

During his time in Pakistain, the only person Mullah Omar was allegedly in contact with was current Taliban leader Mullah Akhter Mansour - along with one other person named Azizullah -- who allegedly worked as the link between the two commanders.

Based on the reports, Mullah Omar had been put into isolation by Mullah Mansour and even close relatives of the reclusive leader were not able to see him without first getting permission from Mullah Mansour. Loyalists to Mullah Omar believe that he was suffering from depression during his last days -- this because of his isolation.

Sources said it is also believed that Mullah Mansour hid Mullah Omar's death for two years and that only two other top Taliban figures were aware of his demise. These included former Taliban supreme court chief Sheikh Haibatullah and the link person Azizullah.

After news broke of Mullah Omar having died two years earlier, Mullah Mansour quickly ordered the dismissal of the head of the military commission of Taliban - a decision that reportedly sparked major criticism among the group's loyalists. This is widely seen to have been the catalyst to the current friction between the two groups.

"Several foreign intelligence services planned to create friction and disunity between the Taliban and these spy agencies extended efforts in recent months to accomplish the task. The role of foreign intelligence agencies and ethnic issues within the Taliban finally split them," former Taliban deputy minister of mines Hassan Haqyar said in reference to the divided Death Eater group.

Sidelining Mullah Omar and then hiding his death; accusations against Mullah Mansour about the detention of Mullah Beradar Akhund, deputy of Mullah Omar by Pak forces; the reported murder of Mullah Dadullah, Mullah Raqeeb and Mullah Obaidullah and a failed liquidation attempt on Mutasim Agha Jan in Karachi are apparently fundamental issues that prevented the Taliban in general from announcing allegiance to Mullah Mansour, said sources.

The division within the Taliban leadership reportedly grew further after Mullah Mansour announced himself as successor to Mullah Omar without seeking the vote from the Quetta Shura
...Mullah Omar's command center, located in Quetta, that the Pak govt hasn't been able to find since its establishment in November, 2001. Honest...
Many within the group have accused Mullah Mansour of corruption, having ties with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) and especially ties with the Pak intelligence service, said the sources. Critics have even called him an ISI puppet.

On the other hand, Taliban fighters loyal to Mullah Mansour also lodged complaints against him, accusing him of having links to Daesh [Islamic State].

"A third Taliban faction has yet to announce its existence. But this faction will be mostly political, and ideologically it would be the most stable faction of the Taliban comprised of Maulavi Abdul Jalil, former deputy foreign minister of Taliban, Mullah Hassan Rahmani, former governor of Kandahar, Mullah Hassan Babur, former minister of foreign affairs including Mullah Abdul Razqa ... [a faction that] maintains major influence among Taliban," military analyst Jawed Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
i said.
Link


Afghanistan
Fierce clashes between rival Afghan Taliban factions
2015-11-09
[DAWN] Fierce festivities have erupted between two rival Taliban groups in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, reportedly leaving dozens dead in the first internecine fighting since a breakaway faction of the Islamist movement appointed its own leader.

The skirmish was taking place in southern Zabul province between fighters loyal to the widely-recognised Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and followers of Mansoor Dadullah, a deputy of splinter-group leader Mohammed Rasool who announced his own faction Tuesday.

"The fighting started from early Saturday morning in Khak-e-Afghan and Arghandab districts of Zabul province. About 60 fighters of Mullah Dadullah and 20 of Akhtar Mansoor have been killed," Ghulam Jilani Farahi the deputy police chief for the province told AFP, adding 30 others were maimed.

The two districts are under Taliban control, and it was unclear how Farahi arrived at his figures.

"The fighters killed are mostly from Mansour Dadullah's group, including imported muscle from Uzbekistan," he said.

Islam Gul Seyal, the provincial governor's front man, confirmed the battle and said fighting was still going on.

Mansoor Dadullah was appointed as second deputy for Rasool, who was named the leader of the splinter group in a mass gathering of dissident fighters on October 3, in the remote southwestern province of Farah, according to an AFP news hound who attended the meeting.

It was unclear whether the new group could rally wide support but its emergence poses a fresh hurdle to potential peace talks with the government.

It also exposes simmering rifts within the movement since the announcement in July of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
.
Al Ahram adds:
Fighters in a breakaway faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool have been joined by Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
holy warriors, according to Mohmand Nostrayar, governor of the Arghandab district of Zabul province.

It is unclear how much support there is for Rasool, a veteran Taliban official. A Taliban capo loyal to Mansoor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to news hounds, said Rasool's faction had joined forces with IS gunnies because it didn't have the numbers otherwise.

"It is obvious that Mullah Rasool's group can't face Akhtar Mansoor alone so they need IS. We said that before and now it has been proven," he said.
Link


Afghanistan
ISIS loyalists vow to eliminate Durand Line
2015-09-10
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) loyalists aiming to gain a foothold in Afghanistan have vowed to eliminate the Durand Line in a bid to unite and pave the way for the Moslems divided by the line.

A front man for the terror group's self-proclaimed Khurasan province said the Islamic State eye to destroy the borders similar as they did between Iraq and Syria.

The porous Durand Line has also been a source of tension between Afghanistan and Pakistain where numerous cross-border attacks have been carried out besides the bordering regions have long been and continues to be the main shelter of the terror groups.

In the meantime, affiliates of the terror group have doubled efforts to encourage the dissident high level Taliban capos to join the ISIS group in a bid to further gain foothold in the country.

The front man for the terror group said a delegation of prominent scholars have been sent by the group's Khurasan province chief to Uruzgan province to meet with the senior Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor Dadullah.

This comes as the group claimed yesterday that Mullah Dadullah was rescued from an offensive by the Talibs involving 2,100 fighters in southern Zabul province.

He said at least 230 ISIS fighters were deployed to Zabul from western Farah province to engage the Talibs and rescue Mullah Dadullah.

He also claimed that Mullah Abdul Manan, the brother of the Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, prefers to join the ISIS group rather than pledging allegiance to the newly appointed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

Link


Afghanistan
Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor Dadullah joined ISIS, the terror group claims
2015-09-09
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The affiliates of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan have claimed that the senior Taliban capo Mullah Mansoor Dadullah has pledged allegiance to the terror group.

An ISIS supporter who claims to be front man for the terror group said Tuesday Mullah Dadullah was rescued from an offensive by the Talibs involving 2,100 fighters in southern Zabul province.

He said at least 230 ISIS fighters were deployed to Zabul from western Farah province to engage the Talibs and rescue Mullah Dadullah.

He also claimed that Mullah Abdul Manan, the brother of the Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, prefers to join the ISIS group rather than pledging allegiance to the newly appointed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

Although the remarks by the so-called ISIS front man for Khurasan province could not be ascertained but Mullah Dadullah appeared in a video recently claiming that Mullah Akhtar Mansoor has been appointed by Pak military intelligence.

The Islamic Movement Fidai Mahaz which was formed following the killing of Mullah Mansoor Dadullah's elder brother also published a propaganda video ahead of engaging in bloody festivities with the supporters of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

The video published through the website of Islamic Movement Fidai Mahaz slammed Mullah Akhtar Mansoor's appointment as new Taliban leader calling him a forger and apostate.

The movement had earlier confirmed Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
's death claiming that Mullah Akhtar Mansoor had assassinated Mullah Omar.

Link


Afghanistan
Pakistan exposed Mullah Omar's death for its own interests: Kandahar clerics
2015-08-19
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The religious holy mans in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan said Pakistain exposed the death of Mullah Mohammad Omar to cover its own interests by jeopardizing the peace efforts.

The remarks by Kandahar holy mans were followed during a gathering to declare support for the Afghan cops.

Head of the provincial holy mans council Obaidullah Faizani said the neighboring Pak has been involved in attacks across Afghanistan and called it un-islamic.

Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
's death was first confirmed by a splinter group of the Taliban -- Afghanistan Islamic Movement Fidai Mahaz, which claimed that he was assassinated Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor and Gull Agha.

The group's front man Qari Hamza said last month Mullah Omar was killed two years ago in the same month of July.

Taliban's top commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah confirmed last week that Mullah Omar did not die naturally but was assassinated, confirming the reports suggesting Mullah Omar was mysteriously killed in April 2013 in a hospital in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
city of Pakistain.

Mansoor Dadullah is the brother of the former senior Taliban capo Mullah Dadullah who was actively operating in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province before he was killed during an operation in Helmand province in 2007.

The Afghan Intelligence -- National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) said Monday that the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad was mysteriously killed in a hospital in Karachi city of Pakistain.

A statement was issued by NDS on Monday tonight stating that Mullah Omar was killed in the month of April 2013 in a hospital in Karachi city.

His death was exposed just days before the Afghan officials were due to meet for the second round of peace talks with the Taliban representatives in Pakistain's capital city, Islamabad.

Link


Afghanistan
Top Taliban commander Dadullah confirms Mullah Omar was killed
2015-08-06
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Taliban group's top commander Mansoor Dadullah has warned of further divisions among the Talibs while expressing his deep opposition with the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor as successor of Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Dadullah has called on immediate actions to appointment a new supreme leader for the Taliban group who should be acceptable for all.

He announced his support to Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
's son Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob and called the tensions among the Taliban leaders at all-time high.

He told the BBC correspondent through a telephone conversation that the Taliban group has already been divided in different branches.

Dadullah also confirmed that Mullah Omar did not die naturally but was assassinated, confirming the reports suggesting Mullah Omar was mysteriously killed in April 2013 in a hospital in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
city of Pakitan.

Mansoor Dadullah is the brother of the former senior Taliban capo Mullah Dadullah who was actively operating in southern Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province before he was killed during an operation in Helmand province in 2007.

The Afghan Intelligence -- National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS) said Monday that the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad was mysteriously killed in a hospital in Karachi city of Pakistain.

A statement was issued by NDS on Monday tonight stating that Mullah Omar was killed in the month of April 2013 in a hospital in Karachi city.
Link


India-Pakistan
Pakistan releases seven Afghan Taliban prisoners
2013-09-08
[Dawn] Pakistain freed a group of Afghan Taliban on Saturday in an attempt to improve its troubled ties with its South Asian neighbour, but risked angering Afghanistan further by not handing them over directly to the Kabul authorities.

The announcement followed last month's trip by Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
to Pakistain, where he sought the handover of some Afghan bully boyz as part of the stalled grinding of the peace processor.

Karzai as well as the United States want Pakistain to hand the bully boyz directly to the Afghan authorities, but on Saturday, a group of seven Taliban was simply allowed to walk out of their cells into Pakistain.

"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, Pakistain is releasing seven Taliban detainees," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

A foreign ministry front man separately said all seven, including a senior commander called Mansoor Dadullah, were freed on Saturday. The other prisoners are Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai.

Asked if they had been handed over to the Afghan authorities or were just released in Pakistain, the front man said: "Just released."

Pakistain is said to have backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and is seen as a crucial gatekeeper in attempts by the US and Afghan governments to contact myrmidon leaders who fled to Pakistain after the group's 2001 removal.

But Afghanistan has long accused Pakistain of playing a double game in its 12-year-old war against Taliban fighters. It says Pakistain, facing a Taliban insurgency of its own, makes pronouncements about peace, but allows elements of its military to play a spoiling role.

Release of a senior commander

Dadullah, who is among the seven released prisoners, is a senior Death Eater commander who was captured by Pak security forces in February 2008 in the southwestern Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province with at least five other Death Eaters.

Dadullah had been in charge of operations against NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
and US-led troops in the southern Afghan province of Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
Dadullah had succeeded his elder brother -- the Taliban's overall military commander Mullah Dadullah -- who was killed in a joint Afghan-NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in May 2007.

The Taliban said in late December that they had sacked Mansoor Dadullah because he disobeyed orders. But a front man for the commander denied that he was fired, leading to speculation about infighting among the Death Eaters.

Dadullah was one of five Taliban who were freed in May 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo.
Link


Afghanistan
Confirmed: Mullah Dadullah drone-zapped in Afghanistan
2012-08-26
Confirmation!
KABUL/PESHAWAR: A NATO air strike in eastern Afghanistan has killed a commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), NATO and the Taliban said on Saturday. Both sides identified the dead commander as Mullah Dadullah and said several of his comrades were also killed in the attack on Friday. A NATO statement said Dadullah's deputy, Shakir, was also killed.

"Dadullah, also known as Jamal, was responsible for the movement of fighters and weapons, as well as attacks against Afghan and coalition forces," the statement said.

It said Afghan and coalition forces backing the Kabul government had "conducted a post-strike assessment" and found that there had been no civilian casualties or damage to civilian property. TTP members as well as Pakistani intelligence officials said Dadullah had been killed in a house in eastern Konar province, along with 12 bodyguards.
Link


Afghanistan
Mullah Dadullah, key Pakistani Taliban leader, killed in Afghanistan: officials
2012-08-25
Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah was killed by a Friday airstrike in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, NATO and Taliban officials said today, according to BBC News.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed the assault killed Dadullah and his 12 bodyguards, according to Reuters.

Dadullah served as the head of the Taliban in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal area bordering Afghanistan, reported Reuters, having replaced the former commander last year after it surfaced that he was allegedly involved in arranging peace talks with the Afghan government.

NATO issued a statement today saying the commander, who was in his 40s and also known as Jamal, had attacked Afghan and NATO forces, said BBC.

He was killed in a "precision airstrike" on Friday, the force said. The statement did not mention any bodyguards, but said Dadullah was "one of several insurgents killed."
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More